The double challenge: environment problems and job creation. How Harrison Musonda is meeting both challenges

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

The story of Harrison Musonda is a relative rags-to-riches story with a difference: it is the rags and other household waste that are now bringing Musonda prosperity, and helping the community at the same time. Musonda earns a living by selling litter and recyclable waste as part of the highly successful Manja Pamodzi project, a community-based initiative that has seen parts of Lusaka where the project has been launched cleared of refuse, and recycled material for cash.

Dealing in other people’s household waste has always earned the 30-year-old Musonda enough to survive, but since becoming an aggregator for the Zambian Breweries-supported Manja Pamodzi initiative, he has enjoyed a noticeable improvement in his standard of living. His role involves buying litter in bulk from collectors so that he can then process the discarded material into bundles to be sold on to Manja Pamodzi. Thereafter; companies specialising in processing of recyclable materials buy the solid waste and turn into useable material such as tissues and egg trays. It is difficult to believe that Musonda at one time had to survive on picking waste from the dump site; now these days are long gone.

“Before engaging with the Manja Pamodzi project, I met up with some business people who would buy plastic litter in bulk. They would give us K50 a time. Later, I realised that there is value in this waste-picking business. I started selling a kilo for 30 ngwee. I would make between K300 and K500 weekly and I started saving,” he says. As fate may have it, in March 2014 he met with some consultants who were conducting feasibility studies on recyclable material. This was a turning point in his life as it meant he could finally move on from his Chunga dumping ground litter-picking business. In 2015, the team came back for the Manja Pamodzi project with Zambian Breweries. That was the moment when it dawned on him that becoming an aggregator was a way out of the poverty trap which he was in danger of falling into. “I realised that I could engage others and now have about 60 collectors that pick recyclable litter in Chawama, Ngombe and other places in Lusaka.”

Manja Pamodzi initiative is supported by Zambian Breweries with the aim of the environmental clean-up and recycling project is to minimise litter that can block drainage system and give rise to disease such as cholera and typhoid, especially during the rainy season. The project is generating enterprise development opportunities and thus alleviating poverty. It is also giving chance to community members to create their own businesses.

The collectors are identified through environmental education campaigns with the emphasis on recycling. The collectors gather polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, cardboard and other recyclable materials from target areas in their communities. “I have grown up in a hard situation. I was a bin scavenger. I was getting food to survive by God’s Grace. Then I started visiting the Chunga dumping site, but I was also determined to work hard and make it in life. When I look at litter, I see business: I see money. I started with I was familiar with…garbage.” Musonda hopes he can inspire schoolchildren to keep their environment clean and provide leadership in creating green jobs.

Why green jobs?

Green jobs hold the promise that humankind will be able to respond effectively and fairly to the following two defining challenges of the 21st century. First is averting dangerous and potentially unmanageable climate change and protecting the natural environment which supports life on earth. Environmental degradation, including the pollution of water, land and air, the irreversible loss of biodiversity, the deterioration and exhaustion of natural resources such as water, fertile agricultural land, and fish, is one of the most serious threats facing economic and broader sustainable development. The environmental and health costs already often outweigh the gains from the economic activity causing the damage. Such degradation will be exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, which are already felt globally.

In the medium- to long-term, projected climate change will lead to the serious disruption of economic and social activity in many sectors worldwide. Scientific scenarios for avoiding dangerous and possibly unmanageable climate change require global emissions of greenhouse gases to peak over the next 10-15 years and then to decline by half until the middle of the century. Stabilising the climate will require a rapid shift to a low carbon world economy.

The second challenge is providing decent work and thus the prospect of wellbeing and dignity for all. Decent work is defined as opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives: opportunity and income; rights, voice and recognition; family stability and personal development; for fairness and gender equality. Ultimately these various dimensions of decent work underpin peace in communities and society. Decent work is central to efforts to reduce poverty, and is a means for achieving equitable, inclusive and sustainable development.

The social challenge of the working poor largely looms, with an estimated 1.3 billion people [over 40 % of the global workforce, and their dependants] live in poverty and insecurity because their earnings are too low and they are relegated to the informal economy. There are 190 million unemployed and tens of millions of young job-seekers cannot find a place in society. The above challenges are closely linked and need to be addressed together. Green jobs are crucial to meeting both simultaneously. Making economic growth and development compatible with stabilising the climate and with a sustainable environmental footprint will require a drastic shift towards clean development and green, low-carbon economies worldwide.

The green jobs and the decent work agendas are mutually supportive and include several interdependent elements, such as rights at work, more and better jobs for women and men, social protection measures, labour protection – in terms of occupational safety and health, migration, laws on wages and working time – and social dialogue, including freedom of association and collective bargaining.

What kind of jobs are green jobs?

Green jobs reduce the environmental impact of enterprises and economic sectors, ultimately to sustainable levels. Green jobs are found in many sectors of the economy from energy supply to recycling [e.g. the case of Musonda above] and from agriculture and construction to transportation. They help to cut energy, raw materials and water consumption through high-efficiency strategies, to decarbonise the economy and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, to minimise or avoid altogether all forms of waste and pollution, to protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity.

How good are they?

Green jobs do not automatically constitute decent work. Many current recycling jobs, for instance, recover raw material and thus help to alleviate pressure on natural resources, but apply a process which is often dirty, dangerous and difficult, causing significant damage to the environment and to human health. Employment in this industry in developing countries tends to be precarious and incomes are low. If green jobs are to be a bridge to a truly sustainable future, then they also must be decent jobs. Decent, green jobs effectively link Sustainable Development Goals that focus on poverty reduction, protecting the environment, and make them mutually supportive rather than conflicting.

Who takes green jobs?

Skills shortages have emerged as a constraint on the greening of economies in industrial and developing countries alike. This is why developing the right skills to ease just transitions is a crucial element in the process. In response to the urgency for greener economies, young persons and workers with the right skills and the ability to learn new ones will be prepared to shift out of declining and into emerging industries.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) should also be revised not only to provide skills needed for an occupation to be green: green skills but also skills necessary to adapt professionals to changes and new technologies in order to sustain themselves. Greening TVET is described as “prepares learners for fields of work and business such as construction, waste management and agriculture, many of which consume enormous amounts of energy, raw materials and water. Green TVET helps develop skilled workers who have knowledge of (and commitment to) sustainable development, as well as the requisite technical knowledge. Greening TVET is crucial for making a transition from energy and emissions-intensive economies to cleaner and greener production and service patterns”.

TVET goes beyond promoting skills development for employability. It empowers young people and adults to develop skills for work and life. Green TVET therefore means more than developing technical skills for green employment (such as eco-tourism, renewable energy and recycling). It also means developing ‘soft’ green skills such as enhancing problem-solving skills in everyday situations (life skills education), education for sustainable consumption and lifestyles, and entrepreneurial learning. Green TVET ensures that all workers are able to play appropriate roles, both in the workplace and the broader community, by contributing to environmental, economic and social sustainability.

The roadmap for greening TVET necessitates the inclusion of subjects related with sustainability and thus revision of the existing curricula promoting the use of cleaner energies, waste management, green technologies, developing skills to cope with new technologies, promoting entrepreneurship and innovative way of thinking, matching theory and practice through work based learning/apprenticeship, emphasizing the needs of the sector.

Just transition to green jobs

Available studies of labour-market dynamics both for sectors and entire economies, suggest that there will be more jobs in green economies. Not everybody will gain from such a change, however. The typically positive job balance from greening an economy is the result of major shifts often within sectors. While some groups and regions are gaining significantly, others incur substantial losses. Therefore, just transitions are needed both for those affected by the transformation to a green economy and also for those having to adapt to climate change.

The industries hardest hit by climate change and those most in need of adaptation are those in developing countries that have historically contributed least to the emissions causing global warming.

The overall balance of available jobs will depend on those created and lost in the sector concerned, such as energy, transport or buildings. Government assistance to both workers and enterprises, including social protection and active labour-market policies, will be a necessary complement in many cases. Meaningful social dialogue will be essential to ease tensions and to arrive at effective cost-sharing and resource allocation.

Vicious to virtuous circle

Inadequate skills development can be the cause of a vicious downward circle of low skills, low productivity and low income. If quality education and training is unavailable, the working poor will remain trapped in low-skilled, low-productive and, as a result, low-wage jobs. Many of these jobs can be found in informal economies in developing countries. In developed economies, disadvantaged groups such as migrant workers, people with disabilities or older workers can suffer similar constraints. Lacking access to skills development excludes workers from participating in economic growth and social development.

However, more and better skills can turn this vicious circle into a virtuous circle, leading to better and more productive jobs. Improved and more widely available skills enable individuals, enterprises and society to innovate, adopt new technologies, and diversify the economy. Skills to develop, adopt, implement or adapt new technologies, such as improved home insulation or decentralised renewable energy supply systems, are essential to address the opportunities and challenges of low-carbon economies. Skills fuel technological change, investment, diversification of the economy and contribute to the competitiveness of enterprises and industries. Skills development, therefore, is a leverage to boost job quantity in growing sectors and job quality through more productive and sustainable enterprises and through improved working conditions and worker employability.

Towards more and better green jobs

Low-carbon economies require skills development policies addressing all three objectives. Yet, the third objective is particularly relevant for economies striving to prepare for the future by reducing their ecological footprint. The responsible reaction to climate change is to shift to low-carbon, less resource and energy-intensive, and more sustainable, ways of production and consumption.

First, effective response strategies by enterprises to update skills and to link them to longer-term business strategies help prepare businesses to take advantage of upcoming opportunities, for instance through improved recycling, which mitigates greenhouse gas emission and reduces resource scarcity.

Second, forward-looking national development policies and strategies can include the greening of jobs and economies. Sustaining a dynamic development process implies anticipating where economies will be competitive and developing the skills needed to encourage new investments and adoption of new green technologies. The key to curbing skills shortages is a forward-looking approach, having a vision of the opportunities and challenges ahead and anticipating the skills needs of the economy to reap potential benefits (in terms of quality jobs and environmental sustainability) and address the challenges (of increased international competition or climate change) wisely.

Implications for greening economies

The first objective is to meet new skill needs as part of mitigation and adaptation efforts. New skill needs will arise due to policy changes or due to environmental changes themselves, as well as to policy responses to ease adjustment to them. The current skills sets available in labour markets might no longer match demand regarding pollution control or emission trading. Upskilling of workers, opportunities for lifelong learning, and updated education and training need to be provided. The greening of current occupations is expected largely to outnumber the need for new occupations. Core skills portable from one work place to another become increasingly important when economies are in transition. While much of the attention focuses on technology, experience demonstrates that the weakest link in the production chain will determine the performance that can be attained. Without qualified entrepreneurs and skilled workers, the available technology and resources for investments cannot be used or cannot deliver the expected environmental benefits and economic returns.

Next it is important to support a fair transition to more sustainable production. Shifting economies towards greener ways of production entails that jobs in declining sectors, such as coalmining, are lost. Supporting a fair transition of displaced workers to more sustainable production requires retraining and effective employment services. Active labour-market policies can help bridge the employment gap and aid transition from one job to another. It is also necessary to create dynamic and sustainable development. New technologies and production processes for low-carbon production, reduced pollution and improved energy and resource efficiency require anticipation of skills needs. Therefore, governments need instruments to forecast skills needs. Also they need institutions and feedback mechanisms to ensure that the information is translated into training systems, so that training offers can be adjusted accordingly.

References

Abramovitz, J.J. et al. (2002). Adapting to climate change: natural resource management and vulnerability reduction. Gland: IUCN – World Conservation Union.

Bird, A. (2006). Together: making national skills strategies that work – for all: with lessons from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa. Bangkok: ILO Asian Regional Office (unpublished).

BMU (2007). Federal Ministry for the environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety. GreenTech made in Germany: innovation atlas. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants study. Munich: Franz Vahlen.

BVET (2007). –Board of vocational education and training. Skills for sustainability. Sydney: New South Wales Department for education and training

Huq, S. et al. (2007) Reducing risks to cities from climate change; an environmental or a development agenda? Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 19, No 1, p. 3-15.

ILO (2008a). Conclusions on skills for improved productivity, employment growth and development. International Labour Conference 2008. Geneva: ILO.

ILO (2008b). Skills for improved productivity, employment growth and development. Report for the International Labour Conference Geneva: ILO (report 97V).

London Energy Partnership (2007). Skills for a low carbon London: summary report and recommendations on the skills gaps in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector in London. London: Greater London Authority.

UNEP et al. (2008). Green jobs: towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world.

Nairobi: UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme.

http://eepurl.com/cuQM5P

Africa’s consumer sector projected growth: how can countries position themselves for the growth?

Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Just a few years ago, consumer spending in Africa passed the US$1tn mark. The continent’s impressive growth trajectory at that time – in particular, the robust growth in Africa’s 30-largest economies – caught the attention of consumer businesses worldwide. Indeed, the consumer-facing sector has been pivotal in Africa’s growth story, accounting for almost half of the continent’s GDP growth between 2010 and 2014. From the Zambian perspective, local consumer patterns has attracted many shopping malls with assorted products that were initially sourced from abroad. The construction sector has also seen preferences for modern touch to buildings be it houses or office spaces. 

But because of the recent slowdown (e.g. Zambian economy dropped from 6.3% GDP growth  to 3.2% - Lusaka Times 2017) some executives have begun to question whether Africa’s once-roaring economy and burgeoning consumer sector still hold promise. Is Africa truly worth investing in? Can multinational companies succeed in the region? Is the African consumer opportunity still as attractive as it once seemed? Our unequivocal answer is yes – but companies will need to adopt increasingly sophisticated approaches to compete effectively. In this article, latest perspectives on Africa’s outlook to 2025 and what it will take for consumer-goods companies to thrive in the region are shared.

A temporary slowdown

Consumer spending across the continent amounted to $1.4tn in 2015, with three countries – South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt – contributing more than half of that total. Food and beverages still constitute the largest consumption category, accounting for as much as one third of Africa’s household spending in 2015 (and close to 40% of household spending in lower-income countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria), but discretionary categories already make up a substantial share of consumption. Spending on nonfood consumer goods – including clothing, motor vehicles, and household goods – accounts for a further 15% of consumption.

 

However, due in part to currency devaluations (e.g. Zambian currency was devalued by knocking off three digits in 2015) and a sharp downturn in oil-exporting economies, spending growth has slowed. Out of the 15-largest consumption markets in Africa, which constitute 90% of the continent’s total consumption, 12 experienced a slowdown in consumption growth between 2014 and 2015 – the exceptions being Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Clearly, the African consumer is under financial pressure. In a 2016 McKinsey survey of consumers in six African countries, two thirds of respondents said they were worried about their finances and more than half said they’ve reduced their spending (Exhibit 1 opposite).

The outlook to 2025

Consumer spending in Africa is projected to reach $2.1tn by 2025. The following strong structural fundamentals are in place to drive the consumer opportunity:

A young and growing population: The continent’s population is projected to grow by 20% over the next eight years, with Africa’s youth making up 40% of the total. In Zambia, 9.8m of the total population of 14m are young people. It is estimated that by 2025, almost one fifth of the world’s people will be living in Africa. This population growth is accompanied by falling dependency ratios and an expanding workforce: The size of Africa’s working-age population is expected to surpass both India’s and China’s by 2034. 

Rapid urbanization: By 2025, an additional 190 million people in Africa are expected to be living in urban areas, which mean that about 45% of the population will be urbanised by then. City dwellers are voracious consumers: per capita consumption spending in large cities in Africa is on average 79% higher at the city level than at the national level. Cities in Kenya and Nigeria, for instance, have per capita consumption rates that are more than double the country rates. The top three cities in Ghana and Angola will account for more than 65% of national consumption spending in each of these countries.

Rising incomes: Since 2005, increases in spending per household have been responsible for about 40% of consumption growth in Africa. By 2025, 65% of African households will be in the “discretionary spending” income bracket (earning more than $5,000). Consequently, the profile of goods and services that Africans purchase will shift, from basic necessities toward more discretionary products.

Widespread technology adoption: Technology is opening many new doors for consumers. Mobile money, for instance, is growing five times faster in Africa than in any other region. By 2020, half of Africans – up from 18% in 2015 – are expected to own a smartphone, which they can use to buy and sell products and services, pay bills, and make remittances. A study in Kenya found that families with M-Pesa mobile money were able to withstand financial shocks (such as illness) without reducing their consumption, because they could borrow money electronically from friends and family. The success of e-commerce company Jumia – colloquially referred to as “the African Amazon.com” – is partly due to the fact that it accepts mobile payments, allowing even Africans who don’t have bank accounts to make purchases. E-commerce and m-commerce offerings are partially leapfrogging formal retail, and McKinsey analysis suggests that e-commerce could account for 10% of retail sales in Africa’s largest economies by 2025.

These factors bode well for the continued growth of Africa’s consumer sector. However, growth will be uneven across countries and income classes, and the geographic spread of consumption will change. Our colleagues at the McKinsey Global Institute have identified four groups of consumers that will drive much of Africa’s consumption growth between now and 2025: those earning more than $50,000 a year in North Africa and South Africa, Nigerian consumers, middle-income consumers in East Africa, and middle-income consumers in Central and West Africa (Exhibit 2 on the left).

East Africa’s share of consumption is projected to rise from 12% in 2005 to 15% in 2025; Francophone Africa’s from 9% to 11%. Meanwhile, South Africa’s share is projected to decline from 15% to 12% over the same period, and Nigeria’s from 26% to 22%. But given that Nigeria will still account for more than a fifth of African consumption, consumer companies can’t afford to ignore that market, even amid challenges in the business environment.

Serving the African consumer

In previous articles, we’ve discussed some of the imperatives for consumer companies to succeed in Africa. These imperatives – such as taking a city-based view of growth, getting credit for value, tailoring the offer to the local market, and creating bespoke route-to-market models – are as relevant as ever. But the changing consumer and retail landscape has highlighted the importance of several other focus areas: making smart use of advanced analytics across the value chain, adopting sophisticated pricing and assortment strategies, and being selective about distributor relationships.

Understand customers through advanced analytics

Formal retail in Africa is expected to grow by about 5% each year over the next few years, bolstered by the aggressive expansion of international retailers such as apparel players Cotton On, H&M, and Zara. However, informal retail channels are likely to continue to dominate the market in sub-Saharan Africa for the foreseeable future.

Because of the highly fragmented nature of informal retail in much of Africa, many consumer-goods companies rely on a passive wholesale model and lack a direct relationship with the retailer, limiting their visibility into retail-outlet performance. But leading companies are now exploiting big data and advanced analytics to take their understanding of their customers to a new level. A consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) manufacturer, to serve hundreds of thousands of small outlets in Africa, equips its sales reps with handheld devices that they use for collecting detailed information about, for instance, an outlet’s product range, pricing, in-store execution, and storage space. This information, combined with internal data (such as SKU-level sales and profitability) and external data (such as weather forecasts), helps the company make outlet-specific decisions about which products should be in the assortment, how much stock the outlet should have, what types of promotions will be most effective, and so on. Sales reps then receive specific recommendations based on the analytics. Early results suggest that using advanced analytics in this way can drive a 10 to 15% sales improvement within months.

Adopt a more sophisticated approach to pricing and assortment

In the past, companies could offer just a small range of products with a basic pricing structure, all targeting the “average” African consumer. Today, in light of rising income disparities across the continent, the most successful CPG companies are using tiered-pricing strategies to capture price premiums from high-income consumers or special consumption occasions (for example, meals at restaurants or bars) while continuing to provide affordable price points for lower-income consumers or value-oriented occasions (such as family meals at home).

Beer companies have long had tiered brand offerings in Africa. Heineken’s brand portfolio in Nigeria, for example, includes Goldberg, a value brand; Star, a mainstream brand; and Heineken, a premium brand. Soft-drinks players take a slightly different tack: they vary their products’ pack formats and sizes. The Coca-Cola Company sells soft drinks in low-cost returnable glass bottles, nonreturnable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles at slightly higher price points, and, at even higher price points, sleek cans or sleeved PET bottles. It sells each of these formats in a variety of pack sizes tailored to specific occasions; it also adjusts pack sizes from time to time to ensure that they remain affordable to the target consumer segments while still being profitable for the company.

Still other companies differentiate their pricing and assortment by region. One CPG manufacturer studies competitor dynamics, cost-to-serve economics, and consumer incomes within micro-geographies so that it can develop region-specific product portfolios and highly localised discounting tactics.

Choose, segment, and manage distributors strategically

Many CPG companies’ distributor networks in Africa are the result of long-standing and often unexamined relationships. It’s therefore not uncommon for CPG manufacturers to find themselves making big investments (for example, through discounts and other kinds of trade spending) in distributors with poor outlet coverage, shoddy execution, or suboptimal capabilities.

Companies should instead be deliberate about designing their distribution network. They should select distribution partners who can help them achieve strategic objectives such as maximising outlet coverage or optimising cost to serve. They should then segment distributors based on criteria such as size and quality of relationship, and then differentiate their treatment of each segment – deploying levers such as trade terms, account planning, capability building, and territory allocation in line with segment needs or challenges. Finally, CPG companies should closely track distributor performance on clearly defined metrics (such as volume, outlet coverage, SKU coverage, and price compliance), establish pay-for-performance parameters, and conduct regular performance dialogues with distributors. A handful of large manufacturers, including Diageo and Unilever, excel at these practices. Other companies would do well to follow their lead.

Africa’s economic lions may not be roaring as loudly as they were a decade ago, but they are still undoubtedly on the move. Consumer companies seeking long-term growth would be unwise to ignore the region’s potential. Investment agencies should equally strategically position their countries to attract the relevant investment to the population needs. Investments should be also made in ensuring the youthful population is skilled to make each country preferred for investment considering the amount and quality of skilled persons to drive returns on investment injected into African economies and in different individual countries. 

Reference

Hattingh, D. 2017. Lions (still) on the move: Growth in Africa’s consumer sector. https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/lions-still-move-growth-africas-consumer-sector/59889/[Accessed: 09/10/2017]

Lusaka Times, 2017. Zambia’s 2017 GDP projection revised higher from 3.2% to 4.0 %-Ministry of Finance. https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/06/21/zambias-2017-gdp-projection-revised-higher-3-2-4-0-mutati/[Accessed: 09/10/2017]

Damian Hattingh is a partner in McKinsey’s Johannesburg office, where Acha Leke is a senior partner. Bill Russo is a senior partner in the Nairobi office. The authors wish to thank Sidhika Ramlakan for her contributions to this article. This article was originally published by McKinsey & Company.

Statutory Instrument on implementing EPR

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

The content below was my comment to an article for the Earth Forum of the Times of Zambia on the article on the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility.

I salute you for your articles on the environment. Last Monday you raised vert pertinent issues on the extended producer responsibility (EPR). The EPR requires additional practicalities for effective manage waste, especially Zambia where much of the waste is generated by households. EPR is more of a Corporate Social Responsibility for producers of goods that end up waste. It focuses on commercially generated waste. The waste generated in homes need another care. The Lusaka City Council is using Polluter’s Pay Principle (PPP) for household generated waste. The PPP is premised on paying for waste collection by the generator. If you don’t pay for it, you know where to take it.

For the EPR to be valuable, waste management facilities are required where the waste will be sorted, stored and transported back to producers for reuse. That is a huge undertaking. Waste if not sorted becomes problematic to be reused by producers. For example, packs for Shake Shake are not reusable when mixed with food products and other waste at the waste bins. They get contaminated. In some cases, people use them as ‘toilets.’ My interaction with Manja Pamodzi and Zambian Breweries waste management programme showed that packs used as ‘toilets’ become tricky to use them for making other products e.g. tissue, egg trays and other items. That brings the aspect of attitude change towards waste management. Waste management requires systems, facilities, likeminded citizens, and plants for recycling.

The complexity of waste management makes it a collaborative issue. When EPR is implemented, what will other stakeholders do to make Zambia a waste free country? One of them is having recycling plants. Without getting into the issue of where the money will come from, Zambia already has a source of income for reducing carbon footprints. Carbon tax was introduced worldwide to avert climatic issues. It is meant to create carbon sinks in different ways. Since Zambia has little innovation around carbon filter production when cars enter its market, carbon tax can be invested into other environmental protection areas such as waste recycling, tree planting [trees trap carbon emissions], green energy production such as solar farms to minimise the strain resource use to generate energy [e.g. charcoal usage] has on the environment.

Currently, according to National Road Fund Agency (NRFA), carbon tax is used for road infrastructure. That is not the purpose of carbon tax. It is misappropriating it. It is replicating Toll Fees. Now that people pay Toll Fees, carbon tax proceeds can be used for its intended purpose to protect the environment before climatic conditions make nature fail to sustain our lives completely. We have to take action by doing what we can to remove environmental hazards such as waste. We can build very serious recycling plants from carbon tax. We can have effectively managed waste systems beyond the EPR.

Zambian waste is mostly generated by households. Lusaka generates 301, 840 tonnes of waste per year. Residential waste accounts for 81% of that waste. This places much responsibility on household waste management. Households waste need more attention to save the environment, people’s health, water table, soil and air pollution and other risks.

The EPR doesn’t apply to households. The Lusaka City Council instead uses the Polluter’s Pay Principle for household waste management. That system is equally badly limping for a number of reasons as it can be seen from huge piles of waste in townships. People are mostly not willing to pay, enforcement is weak, waste bins are limited, waste managers (Community Based Enterprises) are badly performing in waste collection, etc. Worse still landfills where the waste is dumped are getting full.

The Lusaka City Council has been negotiating with Chief Mukamambo III for land in Chongwe where the Lusaka waste could be dumped. The Chief has argued that Chongwe is a farming area, taking waste there will expose people’s animals to waste such that some of them may die e.g. pigs that go loose. Still, what happens when the Chongwe landfills are full? It brings us back to your point of having recycling plants. We need to innovate on how to reuse our waste. Waste ceases to be waste when sorted and reused, it becomes resource for production. No one is born with sustainability mind-set and skills. We learn and adapt into our everyday life.

Behavioural and mind-set change are key into the waste management equation. Implementing the Polluter’s Pay Principle hasn’t worked expectedly as people are unwilling to pay for waste collection. In April 2016, I did a research on waste management in peri-urban areas (particularly Mtendere), some people argued waste was the responsibility of the Lusaka City Council. They don’t see themselves are co-managers of waste. Some residents felt that the Polluter’s Pay Principle duplicated waste fees payable under land and property rates. This is because waste collection fees used to be embedded into taxes on land/property. Gone are those days with the coming of Polluter’s Pay Principle. But people don’t see it as their duty to pay for the waste. It’s boma [government] o do it.

Lusaka City Council and Zambia Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA), the media and all of us (e.g. teaching our children environmental friendly waste management practices) should help each other change mind-set over waste management. It is our business, we all have to do our party. We have to get involved. No one should take a back sit. We can’t meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without doing our bit to find the solution to the waste management puzzle. The complexity of the problem requires collectivity in getting around it. EPR can’t be a success without systemic actions towards improving our ways of managing garbage at households, institutional and commercial levels.

We have to do things in a different way. We need to invest in apt infrastructure for recycling, engage in collaborative actions, long term financing and programmes to avert environmental problems, research and innovation on waste management, and likewise. We shouldn’t end at making plastic bags costly, we should invest in reusable and recyclable materials. For instance, we can invest into making shopping bags from tree barks, sisal or reeds, which can be reused and are friendlier to the environment when disposed as they decompose. We can create a market for people that make baskets from either from sisal, reeds or tree barks. We can do tree planting to replenish the forests after they use the tree barks for making different ware for shopping. Jobs will be created, business linkages and other business opportunities that currently depend on plastic bags.

Prudent waste management is part of climate change mitigation and adaptation. It reduces emissions of environmental pollutants and rids nature of gases that deplete the ozone layer. We have to invest in recycling as you emphasized in your article on 19th December. Landfills will get full. Smoke from burnt waste at the landfills pollutes the environment, methane from the waste the sips into the soil pollute both the soil and water table, people are landfills are exposed to endless pollutants, etc. Collectively we can create products from waste, create systems to convert waste into valuables e.g. organic fertilizer, bio-charcoal or biogas from different types of waste via energy-recovery.

Why Majority Professional Millennial Women Are Unable To Find Dateable Men?

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

 Finding a marriage partner is quite problematic nowadays. The situation is worse for women. It is nastier among professional women. Millennial women accomplish pretty well when it comes to their life goals. Everything goes as planned: accepted into university/college, grabbed the dream job, drive an eye catching car and grew a valuable network of friends. Their apartments are beautifully decorated and their closets meticulously loaded with stylish clothes. However, when it comes to romance, they only go for “someone amazing.” Otherwise they wouldn’t waste time trying to cultivate a relationship with anyone below their definition of amazing.

Many millennial women are fretting over unforeseen outcomes of bad balancing between a career and love. Scan around successful career women you know to see this reality. Every year, “my successful, gorgeous and amazing friends remain kiss-less on new year’s eve and valentine’s day” disclosed women contributors to Forbes. Dateable men “we encounter are either attached, gay or involved in complicated situations.” Often, career women unwittingly play a musical game i.e. while everyone was pairing-up, they focused on careers and were left standing alone in love matters.

“And we can’t figure out what is happening.”

One lady contributing to Forbes on love and millennial women; argued that “I don’t think the issue is that men used to be great and now they’re not. It’s just that in the past women had more pressure to get married and have kids earlier. They prioritized those goals above the others.” Today “we’ve women who’re self-sufficient financially being supported socially by many friends in the same boat.” It’s like broke men meeting up for a drink. They won’t taste the beer unless someone there call for SOS [help]. Thus it shouldn’t be surprising that so many millennial women are single. It isn’t supposed to be this way, women pushed into singleton by undateability of men when it’s love time for career women.

Different general strokes are used to describe millennial women when it comes to romance. Those strokes don’t reflect nuance or contradictions. E.g. they framed as “the hook-up generation, cowards to commitment, ball-busters or fairy-tale dreamers.” Although each line may contain elements of truth, the fuller story derive from interconnected factors and influences. It doesn’t mean these ladies are up for a perfect [decorated with academic and work accolades, financially stable, well-mannered, and caring, etc.] dude in town. They’re realistic. Yeah they’ve certain non-negotiables in prospective suiters e.g. a degree, stable job and income, etc. Life has worked to their plans career-wise, so why shouldn’t they grab a man with similar requirements? That’s not asking too much, that’s what’s within their level.

However, their reluctance to settle for less than they think they deserve has elements of a lax attitude in finding potential mates. “We’re busy dominating the world. We don’t have time to hang out at bars, church and other social platforms. While some of us explore online dating or take a more proactive approach, the majority of millennial women have long assumed we would meet Prince Charming via friends, or through their own social circles.”

“Why should we waste our precious time and energy unless we meet someone we really connect with and care about?” one lady asked. “I think it’s great that millennial women are picky and don’t feel as much pressure to be in monogamous relationships as did previous generations. I do think all millennials, not just women, are used to the idea of being able to ‘curate’ experiences i.e. going into online dating to choose desired traits listed online by other seekers or shift to a big city where options are many.”

Regrettably, these assumptions face growing inequality between the two genders. Thus, millennial women who have taken it for granted that they will pair up with equal partners are failing to hit the jackpot. There aren’t enough of these men to go around. Women outnumber men on college campuses, and single, childless women often earn more than their male counterparts. That brings a plethora of love problems. Inferiority complex push men away from more learned women than them. Educated women themselves rarely settle for men less educated than them.

Increasingly, millennial women go for two romance options: marry down or don’t marry i.e. marry a less educated or less earner than them or stay single.  “There’s need for cognitive behavior change in what ladies [consider] important traits in men.” There are too many women obsessed with finding men on their level. They want someone as ambitious, engaged, and high-achieving as they are. They maybe need to rethink and look for partners that’re SUPPORTIVE, rather than COMPETITIVE.

Additionally, accomplished women should be strong in finding impressive men who make them feel they are getting value in a partnership. “They have this list of qualities (smart, has a job, knows something about culture or the world, etc.) that seem pretty reasonable, but so few men meet the requirements,” contends Melanie Shreffler, a marketing consultant on Millennial culture.

“Going back centuries, it was just a contract between two parties. Love and even friendship or liking each other weren’t important. If you were lucky, they developed over time. But now, we think we can find a guy who will be our best friend, our other half, who we will love before we marry. Finding that in a guy that we also find attractive makes the probability of finding a “good match” even less.”

“Plus, many millennial women are in the uncertain ‘grey’ age range where we aren’t sure if we need to start stressing out over our single status and lower our standards. Or whether we simply need to remain patient that the right man will come along.”

Society has added another paradox to things. When millennial women who are very ambitious in their professional lives apply similar approach towards dating; they are accused of desperation. “[Marriage] is a worthy goal. It’s strange that it’s stigmatized. When women work as explicitly hard to find romance and they do for their careers, they are seen as man-hungry. It’s a shame since studies show that marriage makes one healthier and happier. There’s no shame in wanting a great life” put it one of the ladies to Forbes.

After all is said and done, there’s a feeling that millennial women can turn to those in relationships for helpful dating solutions. “If your utmost priority is to find a mate, maybe you should think about the qualities that are most important to you and keep that in mind when writing people off. But I don’t want that to come off as me encouraging women to ‘settle’ — because I’d personally rather be single than in a relationship with someone who isn’t worth it.” Courtesy of Forbes.com

Understanding Horse Shoe Restaurant workers via Stockholm Syndrome lenses

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) was at pains grasping Horse Shoe Restaurant [Lusaka] workers’ statements on MUVI TV. The workers questioned the Commission’s findings on their abuse and racism. They stood by their employer. They scorned those trying to ‘fight’ their battle and praised those who spoke favorable of the restaurant. They sounded ‘romantically’ bonded with their employer. That put those who tried to speak for them in a limbo.

What the workers did fits well into the STOCKHOLM SYNDROME. The Stockholm syndrome is like telling an abused spouse to report the matter to police and s/he tells relatives and others that you’re trying to destroy their marriage. They make you look the bad one, a noisy one and overstepping it as s/he is happily married. It’s a bad experience and draining to those intervening.

Simply put, the Stockholm syndrome is where a bond is created between the abused and abuser. The name comes from the bank robbery in Stockholm in 1973. During the robbery, four employees of the Swedish Bank were held captives for six days. When the robbery was botched, the captives felt the bank robbers were CARING, NICE and PROTECTING them from the police that wanted to attack the bank building. They did interviews with different media houses praising the robbers (see www.britannica.com). 

One of the women went further to develop a LEGAL DEFENSE FUND [criminal defense fees] for one of the robbers. She even ENGAGED him. Another example is when a kidnaped wealth newspaper heiress in California helped the kidnappers rob a bank after her hostage. The other is about the capture of three Lebanese from 1985-91 by Islamic militants. The captives when rescued were all over saying they were WELL TREATED although they were chained, and confined in solitary in unclean cells (http://counsellingresource.com).

The Stockholm syndrome is mind game characterized by threats, taunts, scolds, or disparaging remarks to subdue the other person. And ONE ‘NICE’ thing the abuser does to the abused may make them ‘die’ with them. For instance, giving them a meal after all the ordeals will make them feel cared for. Or an additional K100 pay to help calm down public outrage will do. The abuser doesn’t have to do much to win their hearts.

The bond is initially created when the abuser threatens to kill, fire, or harm the abused. But the moment their life is spared or their job assured [e.g. via contract renewal]; that removal is transposed into feelings gratitude towards the oppressor. It’s like you forget about your rights, your worth or laws that protects you. You feel the oppressor is your all.

The HRC thus shouldn’t despair. It’s common for the mistreated to stand for those who mistreat them. Such psychological reactions resulting INCONGRUOUSLY BOND and identifying with abuser and abiding by their agenda and demands are widespread. They happen in marriages, relationships, workplaces, schools and homes. In love terms, you hear the abused spouse saying “whatever the case, I still love him/her; it sounds silly but I want him/her back; s/he has a new boy/girlfriend but I am jealous; etc.”

To others it may seem crazy, senseless, unreasonable, etc. But to those in such situations, they are conditioned. They may get angry with those calling for justice to be done on their issue, they may help the person invade justice or stand in their defense in court, and other myriads of public relations. They can go at length to win public confidence in their abusers for minor favors.

Often three conditions are in place under the Stockholm syndrome. These are asymmetrical power relations; threats; and defenselessness feelings. When there’s uneven power, the powerful one enjoys the jolly ride. S/he commands what happens. You don’t do things as co-managers of a situation. You are simply an implementing tool. S/he does the thinking and authorizes what gets done.

Threats verbally or physical are often used to instill fear and defenselessness in the abused. “You can’t go anywhere. You are nothing without me. You know that I can just make a call and your issue will be thrown out wherever you take it?” Such phrases are typically used. Worse ones are used too. At the end, the oppressed person feels ‘chained’ and obey. When told to go sing praises for the abuser; they will do it with a straight face. When it’s time work 24/7 without additional pay; it will be jokes aside.

Summatively, it’s not the wish of the workers of Horse Shoe to do what we saw on MUVI TV. It’s beyond them. They need our help. The same way we don’t give up on abused spouses the moment they report us to their abusers when we tell them to take the matter to police or court; we have to help others stand out and get the fair deal of life. We shouldn’t mock them nor say it’s their baby to nurse. Psychological defeats have far reaching implications on the victim.

 If you asked those workers, they don’t know what they were saying. One of the workers asked viewers if “they looked abused.” Abuse can in hidden. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. We have people dying whilst telling us “THEY ARE HAPPILY MARRIED” until their spouse kills them or they kill them in self-defense. Victims of Stockholm syndrome easily become CONDITIONED TO THE SITUATION due to the emotional intensity of the ordeal.

Those who worship with them, those who live with them, those in love relationships with them and anyone who can reach them either on social media or other platforms; offer a hand to help Stockholm syndrome victims come out of their ordeal. In some cases, the victims become sadists, hurtful, fail to love, fail to appreciate those who are genuinely caring to them and develop ‘love for chains that bind them.’ Psychological conditions are mentally destructive. They call for patience to help the victim heal and walk with their head high. Tomorrow it could be you. 

Trumphobia: why this phobia?

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

The election of Donald Trump is totally contrary to that of Barack Obama in 2008. There was somewhat global excitement to have Obama in the White House. Almost 8 years down the line the opposite is the case. The world is too unsure of what to expect to the billionaire US President elect.

When the voting pendulum started showing Trump winning against Hillary, anxiety gripped investors and market shares plummeted badly. World leaders received his win with mixed feelings. Their congratulatory messages carried different underlying tones. Some added cautions e.g. Chinese Leader said “I hope the US-China relations won’t be confrontational.” Why such a phobia about Trump? Why is the world scared of him?

There are many reasons why uncertainty is hitting hard on many people. They are uncertain about key decisions in trade, immigration, nuclear power, war, etc. Few saw Trump’s winning coming. Pollsters 24 hours before elections were placing Hillary Clinton on the front and ultimate winner of the polls. Media coverage gave Hillary serious leverage. But Trump’s geo-political, trade, immigrants, nuclear, and other foreign policy message are a scary bunch. It is not clear what will become of the words he uttered during campaigns on a number of issues that cut across US, EU, Asia, Africa, climate change and immigration.

The Trump brand that emerged during the run-up to November 8 2016 elections was not an inspiring one to some people and it was bloodcurdling. It was however appealing to American voters, mostly the middle class [many commentators suggested]. What did they middle class see than others never saw? Trump had a populist message that sat well with them. He had a message about their jobs he felt immigrants were grabbing. He had a message about trade skewedness that disadvantaged US. He connected well with them in his messages. How that will turn out in reality is on the waiting list.

Trump was more aggressive on many issues during campaigns for many people’s liking. He was bashful and tore the opponent with strong words. He had few kind words for other countries US trades with in raw and finished products, oil, gas and human capital. On Mexicans he was blunt to tell them “they don’t send experts to US, but drug dealers, criminals and rapists.”

He made strong statements against Africans and their leaders. In some media collections, it was reported he called Africans “lazy, good at sex and theft.” That doesn’t seem to settle well when you hear such a man is winning an election and as an African leader you have to rub shoulders in some way. Such anxiety creates Trumphobia that cuts across sectors of life including economic and social.

People have serious reasons to worry about Trump. He was so loose in his messages. He rarely applied diplomatic undertones in his messages even when talking about international issues. People are now scratching their heads what really to expect from his administration. It is not clear whether most of the statements were mere campaign rhetoric or they will be made reality. If most of the things Trump said during campaigns become true, the world will have tough time with him.

There’s uncertainty on what policies Trump will put in place on investment, fiscal, structural base policy and trade; all of which have a telling on how other countries will fit in. All these uncertainties need healing locally and abroad. They need reassurance to actors in the economy to help things manifest favourably to US and other countries in different areas.

The world is also watching on the kind of team is going to come up with. Whether that team has the capacity to quickly bring hope to many who are so badly worried about Trump elections is also not clear. Too many questions seeking answers indeed.

A lot of hurt and divisions were created by the style of campaign exhibited in US. Very strong language, accusations and threats of arrests or changing systems were made. If you were an investor and you hear such words, where would you put your money and place your money? It is scary keeping the money in US most investors intimated. Financial markets reflected that anxiety in market share fall immediately it came apparent that Trump was winning.

Trump was more protectionist. Wanting US to be in “front” in all trade engagements. From UK, to EU to Asia and Africa; US engagement he preferred them to favour US. That approach is discomforting to other world leaders looking the number of trade, nuclear, and other agreements in existence. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “the fear rhetoric was not welcome.” Most leaders were caught off guard with Trump winning. Brexit wasn’t a warning enough that things can go the Trump way rather than Hillary wise.

On climate change, he called it a “hoax” and he pledged to pull out of some Paris agreements the US committed itself. That will be a very sad move on climate change gains made so far. If only his advisors would help him relook and reconsider such actions, the world will be a better place than taking us several steps backward in climate change.

Breaking down some of the issues like immigration, trade agreements [e.g. AGOA - African Growth Opportunity Act], nuclear power cues, ISS handling, war in Syria, siding with Russia on some issues etc. What do we expect from this man? Pragmatic or diplomatic Trump?

Anti-immigration was his other election campaign pledge. He emphasised that a wall will be built between US and Mexico and Mexicans will pay for it. In his bashful tone, he called most Mexicans getting into US as “drug addicts, rapes and criminals.” Such people should be kept off US soil thanks to the wall to be built.

He further made statements on getting oil from Middle East, changing ties with China because China is stealing jobs from US. China to him is a free-rider that benefited hugely from agreements with US. He preached an anti-globalisation. The isolationist moves by Trump will have many negative impacts on US and trading partners.  Countries are interdependent on each other in so many ways. US can’t walk the journey solo.

On changing trade agreements changes, Canada is the most worried. It is one of the biggest trade partners, so the anxiety is very genuine. The situation got worse that the Canadian website servicing immigrants crushed as it became apparent that Trump was winning.

Trump outrageous statements are causing serious phobia, tension, fear and anxiety that might cost countries trade, business and investment opportunities. Once in Zambia our late President cut anyhow, threated investors, made sweeping statements on “infesters” [investors] and we saw people packing to leave after he won. Construction projects managed by foreigners were put to a hold. People were sitting on one bum in readiness to vacate.

People don’t know what to expect from Trump. His team has a lot to do to ease people’s nerves. To calm worries of investors and make America an admirable place to do business, pursue academic excellence and other things. If a new take is picked on to breath confidence in people, things may turn sour for the world since US has too much influence on what happens in other countries from trade to nuclear power.

The good hope is that some statements e.g. on Muslims being banned from entering US are reported to be disappearing from the Trump Website. It could be that most of his rhetoric was mere campaign gimmicks to attract voters and win their hearts.

Aspiring to lead a nation requires care in terms of what we say. Our words have far reaching effects within and beyond borders. Even when the political environment is too tense to practice sober politics, it is important to remain a cool head as possible to avoid shocks to our economic, market shares, investor confidence and other socio-economic systems we need to realise our pledges to electorates.